Former NIU coach Fleck hired as Western Michigan's head coach

Former NIU football player and assistant coach P.J. Fleck has been hired as the head football coach at Western Michigan.

Fleck, most recently an assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under Greg Schiano, would become the youngest head coach at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.

Fleck played wide receiver at NIU after his high school football career at Kaneland, where he helped the Knights to consecutive Class 3A state championships in 1997 and 1998. He graduated from NIU in 2004.

Fleck was hired by former NIU coach Joe Novak as the wide receivers coach in 2007. He stayed on staff under Jerry Kill, but left to be the wide receivers coach at Rutgers University in 2010.

In February, former NIU coach Dave Doeren brought Fleck back to be NIU's offensive coordinator, replacing Matt Canada. However, Fleck left one day after taking the job to become the wide receivers coach for Tampa Bay.